The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1887-02-10
CORN FOR FOOD.
The Unaccountable Prejudice Exlstir
against Its Use In England.

The -Unaccountable Prejudice Existing
Against Its Use In England.
It is really surprising that the pre-
judice against what we call ''corn" al
a food-product among the people Of
England and Ireland should be so gen.
eral and so strong as it is. 1t is all
the more surprising because the potato
has been adopted by the English, and
still more by the Irish people; and lit
tie repugnance is manifested towards
American tobacco anywhere in the
United Kingdom. In a recent issue.
the London Telegraph calls the atten-
ton of the public to this strange dis
taste for corn.
There is said to be but one dealer in
London from whom corn-meal can
be obtained, and this dealer keeps it
only for American customers. Refer
ence is made to the potato famine Of
1856 in Ireland, and it is said that the
cargo of corn which was sent over
there from this country was wasted
charity. Rather than eat maize in
the form of bread or of cakes, the Irish
poor preferred to starve for want Of
the far less sustaining potato" Eff
forts made since that time teach the
Irish how to cook and serve this article
of food are reported as without effect.
The writer from whom we quote. ad-
mits that ''unless corn becomes fash
ionable among the richer classes, it
were vain to hope that twill ever seem
palatable to the poor" This reminds
us that it was precisely in that
way that antipathy to corn was over
come in these colonies. When the
a~ristocracy breakfasted on corn-bread,
and went out to work all day on the
thin soil of New England, trying to
make a crop of corn for the next sea
son, with nothing to support them in
their labor through the day but a few
kernels of parched cor and a tighten
ed belt, then this grain became ''pala-
table to the poor" ALI n~onsensical
prejudice against this rich blessing was
then weeded out of the American mind.
Our exports of corn to Great Britain
amount to more than thirty millions Of
bushels a year. They have been as
high as sixty-five millions. If the Lon.
don Telegraph is well informed, most
of this corn must be fed to stock. In
that case, it is to be feared that many
an Irish pig fares better than hi.
owners children. 1t may be said that
the III goes to make meat, and that
the meat is an essential article of food.
This argument might be admitted in
parts Of this country where II i:
thought a proper article of fuel even
but in a country where corn is an i'm
portation, any such direct conversion
of it into food is extravagant wasteful
ness. Mr.. Kemble concludes that tn,
bread of Saxon England was mad,
largely of rye. He shows that very
| little of it was made of white, sifted
-four. Since 1850, as appears from tn,
researches of Prof. Thorold Rogers
wheat has been the grain which ha'
furnished England with bread.
81 can not but think" he says, '.ir
the proyident care which the Legisla
ture took at so early an epoch of thu
interests of the consumers, attention
would have been given to rye, oaten O.
barley bread, if these had been in earl.
times the food of the people"
This long-continued Acquaintance
with wheaton loaves has matured tn
British tastes for that variety of food
That it can yield to a liking for corr
bread is made certain by the fact tina
in this country it is the white people o
the South, the most thoroughly Englisl
in their nature, who show the keenes
appreciation of the merits of the hoe
cake, Johnny-cake and pone bread
| What our British cousins need in thi
matter is to learn how to prepare corr
for food in the ways with which an,
plantation aunty is familiar, and thel
it will be both easy and agreeable t
discover the good qualities of thi
Youths Companion.